1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing method and apparatus, and more particularly, to a method and an apparatus for processing an image captured by a digital photographing apparatus for generating and displaying screen nail images.
2. Description of the Related Art
Anticipations for still picture photographing have increased with the commercialization of image sensors capable of performing high-speed still picture photographing, e.g., high-speed Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) sensors. Some products including such image sensors have come out in the market.
In order to realize such a system, the amount of input data is typically several times higher than a signal processing capacity of a camera signal processing unit. Thus, the input data is typically stored in a memory in a RAW file format, instead of being immediately processed. Therefore, a user is typically able to develop a raw file to check a photographed picture.
The high-speed still picture photographing provides users with an advantage of obtaining multiple images but the high-speed still picture photographing has a few disadvantages in that obtained images must typically be sorted and then stored, so as to reduce a storage space. Moreover, when obtained full resolution images are processed and stored by an image processing unit, a processing speed for the full resolution images and storing speed of the full resolution images on a storage medium are typically delayed. Thus, a processing or storing delay that is 5 times to 10 times greater than the time to capture the image generally occurs. For example, in order to compress an image captured for 1 second in a Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) format and then store the compressed image in a flash storage medium, 10 seconds corresponding to 10 times 1 second are required in a typical camera system, thereby inconveniencing users.
In order to solve these problems, a method by which a user reduces images stored in a RAW format to a screen nail format, instead of processing all of the stored images, develops only the reduced images, and pre-views the reduced images has been suggested so as to freely select and store images, instead of developing all of the obtained images.
However, since the developed images are very small in size, it is very difficult to determine in a picture whether a focus was correctly adjusted and whether noise or quivering occurred during the photographing of a particular person.